Time-table and advertiser



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E. L. BIRCH. Time Table and Advertiser. I No. 241,595. Patented May 17,1881.

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B. L. BIRCH. Time Table and Advertiser. No. 241,595. Patented May 17, I881.

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' Time Table and Advertiser. No. 241,595. I Patented May 17, I881.

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PATENT OFFICE;

EDWARD L. BIRCH, OFMARSHFIELD, INDIANA.

TIM E-TABLE AND ADVERTISER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,595, dated May 17, 1881.

Application filed December 31, 1880. (No model.)

a combined railway time-table and advertising medium. Devices of the character indicated are designed to display the schedule of time for the arrival and departure of trains, and also to offer a prominent and attractive position for the display of advertisements or announcements.

My invention in particular relates to that class of time-tables wherein the changes in the schedule are made by the manual changes of display-cards denoting direction and time.

The object of my invention is to provide an advertising and time table which shall combine simplicity of construction and ease of opera- I tion with durability in use, an. attractive appearance, and an adaptation to a great variety of changes.

Another object of my invention is to combine with a time-table an advertising medium, the advantages of such combination lying in the fact that time-tables being the object of so frequent consultation to the traveling public advertisements in connection therewith are brought prominently before the public eye.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a front view of a combined time-table and advertising device as constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the drawer or receptacle in which the exhibiting cards are held, the said cards being slipped aside in this instance sufficiently far to show one of the spring devices which operate to hold the cards in position. Fig. 3 is a rear view of the slide, and Fig. 4. is a view in vertical crosssection of my time and advertising table.

Let A represent a frame of any desired dimensions, and constructed of any suitable maadmirably answer the ends of invention in this J instance. The upper portion of this tin plate B is left blank, and is designed to be occupied by advertisements of a local or general character. The said advertisements maybe painted directly on the plate 13, or may be removably secured thereto in the shape of printed, painted, or lithograplied cards The lower portion of the plate B is occupied by a rack, O, which latter may be of any suitable dimension, provided that it. is sufiiciently deep to admit into it a slide or drawer inclosing scheduleeards.

The drawings show a rack the front portion of which is composed of a single piece of sheet metal having each end b b and its bottom b bent at right angles to its perforated face and attached to the body-plate.

The front face of the rack O is perforated at suitable points D, to exhibit the schedule of direction and time of arrival and departure of trains. For instance, the elongated aperture a, located to the left, displays the word West, and under it, through slots b, c, and d, th'evarious trains going west are exhibited in the order of their succession, While just to the right of the last-mentioned apertures slots a b a show the hour and moment at which the said trains going west leave the station. To the right an elongated slot, 01, displays the word East, and beneath it a series of slots, a b 0 respectively display a list of trains going east, while to the right of the said slots a I) a another series of slots or apertures, a b 0 show the hour and moment of the departure of the east bound trains. Along slot, 01 is conveniently located to give any information concerning the trains that may be thought beneficial to the public, as, that certain trains will or not stop, that certain extras will run, 8w. limit myself to this peculiar method of perfo rating and exhibiting time-schedules, as any disposition of slots or perforations and any exhibition of time-schedules will fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

E represents a slide of the same general di* mension as the rack G, and yet enough smaller to allow of its readyinsertion thereinto. The

Of course I do not IOC United States mails.

slide E may be made by taking a flat plate of tin or other metal, and of the required length, and bending its upper and lower edges to form the flanges e andf, which hold the cards 9 in position therein. Plates E and F (of which the plate E only is shown in the drawings, the plate F being obscured by the cards in the slide) are mounted on springs e, and are designed to hold the cards up in their normal position in the slide irrespective of the number of cards which it contains.

The back of the drawer is provided at the four corners thereof with soft-rubber balls or pads r, the design whereof is to guard against scratching or defacing the advertisements on the plate B, when the drawer is removed from the rack.

A number of printed blanks having those portions of their surfaces that register with corresponding apertures in the front face of the rack O, in same Way designated, are designed to accompany every time-table. The stationagent may then fill out the blanks by the timeschedule and place them in the slide E, and insert that in the rack C, where the schedule will be protected and yet visible to all. So of ten as the time-schedule may be changed, the slide E, together with its blanks, may be readily withdrawn and the exhibition-blank be corrected by erasure, or it may be replaced by one made out afresh.

This device hereinabove'described is not necessarily limited in use as an exhibitor of railway-schedules, as I apprehend it may be employed in post-offices to announce the hours of the arrival, departure, and delivery of the The device is, as before stated, of simple construction, and hence of light cost, and it will, it is thought, beparticularly adapted for use in small stations where the complicated automatic devices in use in some union depots are not necessary.

I would have it understood that I do -not limit myself to the exact construction shown and described, but that I hold myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a combined time-table and advertising medium, the combination, with a rack formed of a perforated plate secured to a body-plate having inscriptions located above the rack, of a slide having its upperand lower edges flanged, sprin g-pressed plates to press theeards forward, and rubber fender located on the back of the slide for preventing the inscription on the plate from being defaced, substantially as set forth.

2. Ina time-table, the combination, with a body piece or plate, of a rack having its front face perforated and secured to the lower portion of the body-piece, and a slide consisting, essentially, in a plate having its upper and lower edges flanged,spring-pressed plates located on the front face of the slide to hold the cards in position, and pads or fenders secured to the rear face of the said plate, and adapted to prevent the inscriptions on the body-piece from being defaced, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, l have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of December, 1880.

EDWARD L. BIRCH.

Witnesses:

J. A. WEBsrER, F. H. ENSIGN. 

